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An important question about eating out is who pays for the meal. If a friendof yours asks you to have
lunch with him, you may say something like this, "I'm afraid it'll have to be someplace cheap, as I have
very little money." The other person may say, "OK, I'll meet you at McDonald's."
This means that the two agree to go Dutch, that is, each person pays for himself. He may also say,
"Oh, no. I want to take you to lunch at Smith's," or "I want you to try the Chinese dumplings there. They're great." This means the person wants to pay for both of you. If you feel friendly towards this person, you
can go with him and you needn't pay for the meal. You may just say, "Thank you. That would be very
nice."
American customs (1) about who pays for dates (2) are much the same as in other parts of the world.
In the old days, American women wanted men to pay for all the meals. But, today, a university (3) girl or
a woman in business world will usually pay her way during the day. If a man asks her for a dance outside
the working hours, it means "Come, as my guest(4)." So as you can see, it is a polite thing to make the
question clear at the very beginning.
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